Rubicon Trail - Date TBD

[aw12345]

Love to do the rubicon but work comes first. Art, bret I believe me and a buddy are doin 2n17x sat around noon. If interested I give you details.

Not with some broke down Suzukis?. Might buzz through Cleghorn and then join up with you guys, run both, both ways should make for some nice entertainment

[vwtipeii]

Tow rigs???? who uses tow rigs? I thought Jeeps are meant to be driven??? You guys are getting soft!!

i am in for anything this weekend and taking a week or 3 over the summer

[aw12345]

Easy Skeeter will let ya know if my Jalopy is ready for trail duty on Friday afternoon. If so about 9.30 or 10 at the freeway and Cleghorn from there to 2n17x we should easily make that by 12. If BoBo is heading out there

[Materdaddy]

Tow rigs???? who uses tow rigs? I thought Jeeps are meant to be driven??? You guys are getting soft!!

I used to think the same thing.

Try fitting 4 people (2 kids in car seats) and camping stuff in a wrangler (LJs don't count).

[bigbearwheeler]

Here's the way we have done the Rubicon in the past, and it works out pretty well. We drive to Lake Tahoe on a Thursday, where we leave our trucks and trailors at a local campground. They charge a small fee, but it's worth it because everything is in the campground overflow parking area and kept and eye on for us. We then drive to George town that day and spend the night. You can stay in Auburn also. Better choice of motels, but further away from the trail.

Early the next morning we head to Loon Lake and the start of the Rubicon. If everything goes right, you can be at Buck Island within a few hours or at Rubicon Springs. It's only 11 miles, so you can take your time and see everything along the way and still get to either spot to set up camp before dark.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of wheeling to do once to you get to either of these locations. The forest administration is very strick about keeping people from going off the actual trail. Personally, I think the camping is better at the Springs because there are more places to choose from. You can set up camp right next to a cristal clear pool if you want to, or somewhere no one can find you. It's your choice.

We usually stay two days at Rubicon Springs, then head out and up Cadillac Hill and back to Lake Tahoe on Sunday. Again, if nothing goes wrong, you can get back to your truck and trailor by lunch time. Or you can take your time, see the sights and get back a little later.

We do the whole trip in 4 days and 3 nights, leaving home on a Thursday morning and getting back home late on Sunday night. You can spend longer if you like, but for me 2 nights at Rubicon Springs is enough and by Sunday I'm ready to go. I can only sit around, drink beer and do nothing for so long, if you know what I mean.

For those who want to do the Jeepers Jamboree, it has it's advantages. They provide all your meals, they provide live music on Friday and Saturday night, they have helicoptor rides, provide spotters all along the trail, etc. It's another way to do the Rubicon, just with a lot more people on the trail. For first timers, it's a nice way to go. They pretty much take care of everything for you. The cost is around $370 per person.

Either way works for me. It's a great couple days of wheeling in the Sierra's. The 4 day 3 night plan is just my humble opinion. What do you guys think?
Ron

[I H8RDS]

4 days/3 nights- That sounds good to me I vote for July 14th weekend.

[vwtipeii]

Last year we took a day to drive up. Hit the trail the next day. We spent the first night just before little Sluce. 2nd night by Loon Lake and 3rd night in Rubicon Springs, and spent the 4th night back in Tahoe in a cheap hotel. That way we wheeled each day even if it was only for 4-5 hours. Keeps ya from "just sitting" in one place too long

[WeRubiBlue06]

Last year we took a day to drive up. Hit the trail the next day. We spent the first night just before little Sluce. 2nd night by Loon Lake and 3rd night in Rubicon Springs, and spent the 4th night back in Tahoe in a cheap hotel. That way we wheeled each day even if it was only for 4-5 hours. Keeps ya from "just sitting" in one place too long

That sound really nice, spend each camping night in a different location--especially if it's your first time there. Only thing is if the wife joins in with me and having her camp/tent it for 3 nights, I don't think I will get away with a cheap hotel on the last night.

[I H8RDS]

Originally Posted by vwtipeii
"Last year we took a day to drive up. Hit the trail the next day. We spent the first night just before little Sluce. 2nd night by Loon Lake and 3rd night in Rubicon Springs, and spent the 4th night back in Tahoe in a cheap hotel. That way we wheeled each day even if it was only for 4-5 hours. Keeps ya from "just sitting" in one place too long."



I like this idea even more!

[WeRubiBlue06]

There's a couple different ways to do it. You can do it with the Jeepers Jamboree, the Jeep Jamboree or on your own. The Jeepers Jamboee is a bigger event attracting several hundred people. The trail usually gets very crowded with long waits. The Jeep Jamboree is more of a family type event with less people on the trail. They both provide all your meals, trail spotters, permits, entertainment and even some repairs to you rig, if you need it. It's well worth the money.

The Jeepers Jamboree start July 26th and runs through to Aug 5th. You have to be signed up with them to do the run during thoughs dates.
They have the entire trail reserved, believe it or not.

Early to mid July is open if people want to do it on their own. July 4th to the 8th would probably be a crowded time to run it, [COLOR="red"]which leaves the weekends of 14th and 15th and the 21st and 22nd[/COLOR]. That's about it.

I've done the trail several times and it is a blast. It's only 11 miles from the start to Rubicon Springs, but it's a fun 11 miles. Lots of granite slab type obstacles and plenty of rocks. Not as hard as the Hammers, but hard enough to make it enjoyable. At least one locker would be recomended. Every once in a while you might see a stock rig out there, but I would not recommend it.

Let me know what you guys think and possibly we can put something together.
Ron

The weekend of the 21st and 22nd works best for me but I would still try to make the 14th and 15th.

[daniel_buck]

4 days 3 nights sounds good to me. I think I like the idea of wheeling every day rather than camping in the same spot each night, but honestly I'd be up for either. I'd just be happy to be there. I can't do more than 4 days though, taking 2 days off is probably about my limit.

[I H8RDS]

Last year we took a day to drive up. Hit the trail the next day. We spent the first night just before little Sluce. 2nd night by Loon Lake and 3rd night in Rubicon Springs, and spent the 4th night back in Tahoe in a cheap hotel. That way we wheeled each day even if it was only for 4-5 hours. Keeps ya from "just sitting" in one place too long

Brett- you plan on going this year as well?

[bigbearwheeler]

I think you meant you spent the 2nd night at Buck Island. Spending 3 nights in different places along the trail can be fun, but breaking camp and reloading the jeeps 3 different times is a bit of a job. I'd still do it though. It's fun no matter how you do it. The other thing we've found is you keep moving, you can make Rubicon Springs easy from the start of the trail at Loon Lake, in a day. We got there one trip by 1:00in the afternoon without even pushing it. 11 miles go pretty fast when you moving.

I'm pretty much up for anything though. I've done it a bunch of times and it's always a fun trip.
Ron

[Deepwater]

This is sounding pretty interesting. My jeep has expressed a deep desire to go sightseeing on the Rubicon. Spreading its tire cleats on bare granite slabs has been on the bucket list since is it was born.

Mike

[Gary]

A few of us were talking about running the Rubicon this year around the camp fire at Calico. If you guys don't mind another jeep or two tagging along I'd like to go. I think Clg82 was also saying he'd like to run the Rubicon this year. Whichever dates you guys decide on is cool with me.